Ba'al
Ba'al is a demiurge-like entity that is credited by certain esoteric cults with the creation of both this world and the Otherworld. Ba'al, though the creator of the world, is most often regarded by those who credit him as the creator deity as being malevolent and that the world itself is a method of expanding his own control. In these cults, Ba'al is believed to have trapped the divine within the bodies of all living things, and upon their death, their earthly vessels forfeit their divinity to Ba'al who grows stronger. The cults who recognize and reject Ba'al often appear in the higher echelons of society, though its insights are by no means restricted. However, dissemination of their teachings has been limited due to the complexity and abstract nature of its lore, and the refusal of its teachers to localize its tradition. Because they don't technically worship Ba'al, his "clergy" is often referred to as nystics, the Elvish term for "one who understands and has wisdom." Though Ba'al is not given form or shape in esoteric tradition, his representation varies widely and is frequently associated with spiders and the all-seeing eye. This contextualizes many different mystery cults to those who recognize Ba'al Concepts Tetragram The true name of Ba'al is kept hidden and secret, with the word itself Ba'al ''actually meaning "lord" in an ancient language. The name of the demiurge is deliberately hidden as even uttering the word could help it manifest and drive mortal creations to insanity as they turn to worship their creator. For that reason, most who stumble across the true name of Ba'al are compelled to destroy it, or at least conceal it. Monad Ba'al is a part of a greater system of manifestations of a creator entity held as a singular permutation, the totality of what is called the ''Monad, the One. The Monad is the high source of the pleroma, the region of light. The various emanations of the Monad are called æons. According to nystics, the first thing that came into existence was the Monad, which begat the dyad, which begat the numbers, which begat the point, begetting lines, etc. Cosmogony based on the Monad is most famously contained in the Apocryphon, describing the Monad as being sought but not surmised, and intelligent but not conscious. As Ba'al is active, the Monad is dormant and submissive even, and must be handled with great care though it could easily overwhelm Ba'al. Emanation The Supreme Light or Consciousness descends through a series of stages, gradations, or worlds, becoming progressively more material and embodied. In time it will turn around to return to the Monad, retracing its steps through spiritual knowledge and contemplation. The aspect of the Monad with the lowest wisdom and self-awareness, Ba'al, is the final stage of the emanation before retracing into Sophia and beyond. Sophia In nystic tradition, the term Sophia (the Elvish for "wisdom") refers to the final and lowest emanation of the Monad. In most if not all versions of the nystic myth, Sophia is the "mother" of Ba'al, who in turn brings about the creation of materiality. The positive or negative depiction of materiality thus resides a great deal on mythic depictions of Sophia's actions. As Ba'al represents ignorance and darkness, his opposite is a manifestation of light and wisdom. This entity is described as being female and is often depicted as being a woman or a radiant light. Though Sophia is not an entity per se, she is used as a metaphor for one's enlightenment and to "walk with Sophia" is to live one's life with wisdom. This is the lowest form of the Monad, which is wisdom attainable by mortals. Ba'al is said to have been a perversion of Sophia, a corruption of what is beauty and truth. However, this is also ascribed to being the fault of Sophia: wisdom without sincerity becomes the greatest evil. At the root of Sophia is redemption, as wisdom cannot influence the past but shapes the future, as light cannot shine upon a land already lit. Sophia, the last stage of emanating wisdom, resulted in the production of Ba'al, the "demiurge" concealed outside the pleroma; in isolation, and thinking itself alone, it creates materiality and a host of co-actors, referred to as the Twelve Archons. The demiurge is responsible for the creation of mankind; trapping elements of the pleroma stolen from Sophia inside living bodies to varying degrees. However, one can escape with one's mortal soul should one "walk with Sophia" and attain the wisdom needed to return to the cycle of emanation and be united again with the Monad. Pleroma Pleroma (the Elvish word for "fullness") refers to the totality of Monadic powers. The heavenly pleroma is the center of divine life, a region of light "above" (the term is not to be understood spatially) our world, occupied by spiritual beings such as aeons (eternal beings) and sometimes archons. Souls are composed of the plemora, though at varying degrees and sealed within mortal vessels. If plemora is trapped within its lowest emanation in mortality, it remains having not transpired from its previous emanation and furthermore has no use outside of returning to Sophia. Aeon The aeons are the various emanations of the superior Monad. From this first being, also an æon, a series of different emanations occur, most often represented with the Web, demonstrating the interconnected nature of the emendations. The numbers of these pairings is between six and ten, though most put it around eight. The aeons as a totality constitute the pleroma, the "region of light". The lowest regions of the pleroma are closest to the darkness; that is, the physical world. Ba'al and Sophia are both aeons and thus aspects of the Monad. Demiurge A lion-faced snake deity found in nystic texts and jewelry is Ba'al, the demiurge or "public artisan." Ba'al is also referred to derisively as "Samecles," literally "the foolish one" or "the blind god." This is in reference to its place in the Monad, where it is ignorant of the superior emenations, and sometimes opposed to it; thus in the latter case it is correspondingly malevolent. Though Ba'al goes by many names, its true name is kept hidden, as in this material world, it is a power word capable of inspiring madness and debauchery. Ba'al created the physical universe and the physical aspect of humanity. The demiurge also allegedly created a group of co-actors named archons who preside over the material realm and, in some cases, present obstacles to the soul seeking ascent from it. The inferiority of the demiurge's creation may be compared to the technical inferiority of a work of art, painting, sculpture, etc. to the thing the art represents. In other cases it takes on a more ascetic tendency to view material existence negatively, which then becomes more extreme when materiality, including the human body, is perceived as evil and constrictive, a deliberate prison for its inhabitants. Moral judgements of Ba'al vary from group to group within the broad category of nystic literature, viewing materiality as being inherently evil, or as merely flawed and as good as its passive constituent matter allows. In some cases, Ba'al's actions can be seen as completely erratic and dualistic, as it is incapable of achieving higher emanations and also lies at the opposite end of the highest plemora, making it a being shrouded in darkness. The Twelve Archons The archons refer to several servants of Ba'al, having the roles of terrible presiding masters of the material realm. These are powerful entities with a spoken and given name (which are not uttered for fear of a similar power to Ba'al itself) as well as a "shrouded" name that allows for conventional discussion. The archons exist in the material realm, though beyond their name and a generalized description, their purpose beyond a vague enforcement of Ba'al's whims appear to be limited to obstructing the achievement of wisdom and preventing mortal souls from becoming one with Sophia. They are as follows, in order of power and esteem: * Yaldaboath, The Dark Artisan * Iao, She is the Terrifying One * Adonailos, He Disemboweled Himself * Astaphanos, The Eraser of Faces * Phantasm, The Thief of Putrefying Flesh * Sygigia, The Unbirthed * Bythidos, The Hymn of the Drowned * Elaion, The Ringing Sound in Silence * Ophiteses, The Boiling Womb of Spiders * Nagi, The Whore That Dismembers Then Devours * Naasset, The Serpent That Swallows the Night Sky * Rakshasa, The One Who is Reversed and Upside-Down Terminology * sarkic, earthly, hidebound, ignorant, uninitiated. The lowest level of human thought; the fleshly, instinctive level of thinking. * hylic, lowest order of the three types of human. Unable to be saved since their thinking is entirely material, incapable of understanding wisdom. * psychic, "soulful", partially initiated. Matter-dwelling spirits that seek wisdom and perhaps knowledge * pneumatic, "spiritual", fully initiated, immaterial souls escaping the doom of the material world via Sophia. * kenoma, the visible or manifest cosmos, "lower" than the pleroma * charismata, gift, or energy, bestowed by pneumatics through oral teaching and personal encounters * logos, the divine ordering principle of the cosmos, an embodiment of the Monad * hypostasis, literally "that which stands beneath" the inner reality, emanation (appearance) of plemora, known to psychics * ousia, essence of plemora, known to pneumaticsCategory:Religions Category:Humanoid religions Category:Human religions Category:Elven religions